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Craig Timberg, Johannesburg
May 20, 2008
HUNDREDS of foreigners living in South Africa have taken refuge in police stations and churches as violence against them spread further across poor townships.
The attacks against Zimbabweans and other immigrants began a week ago, with police saying yesterday the confirmed death toll had reached 13.
The night-time rampages have turned police stations in several townships in the Johannesburg area into virtual refugee camps, with makeshift tents, portable toilets and clusters of terrified people, many displaying wounds.
Some South Africans, especially those living in poor areas of high unemployment, accuse Zimbabweans and other newcomers of fuelling the high crime rate and taking scarce jobs.
The attacks have renewed the authorities' fears that xenophobia is on the rise in a country once known as one of the most welcoming to immigrants and asylum seekers.
Local radio said angry mobs had at first attacked houses owned by immigrants from neighbouring Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other countries in Alexandra township. But now the attacks had spread to other settlements and Johannesburg's city centre. Properties had been looted and destroyed.
"There have been some incidents in the Alexandra area where police opened fire using rubber bullets to disperse crowds," police spokesman Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said.
The anti-foreigner violence has rattled authorities and the business community. President Thabo Mbeki urged police to find the instigators.
"It's necessary to move as quickly as possible to establish all the causes and the players in all of this, so that we can then deal with the matter more effectively," Mr Mbeki said on radio.
"The communities … should act together with the police and together we should say this is very, very wrong."
Medical rights group Medecins Sans Frontieres said the situation was now a humanitarian crisis.
"I have been to many refugee camps and situations and this definitely is along those lines," spokesman Eric Goemaere said.
"This reminds me of a refugee situation. I have treated bullet wounds, beaten people, rape victims and the people are terrified."
The violence has also affected businesses owned by Asian immigrants such as Pakistanis.
An estimated 3 million Zimbabweans have fled to South Africa as a result of the political and economic crisis at home.
Many have vowed never to return to their looted houses but have few options when their own nations are experiencing a dearth of economic opportunities, or, in the case of Zimbabwe, a devastating political crisis.
"I'm not going back to Zimbabwe," said Patricia Sibanda, 38, a widow who, with her 15-year-old daughter, was among more than 1000 victims camped out in the police station in the township of Alexandra, where the attacks began on May 11.
"There's no food in Zimbabwe. There's no everything."
The attacks have embarrassed many, including prominent members of the ruling African National Congress, who depended on the hospitality of the country's neighbours during decades in exile.
WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS, AFP
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/asylum-seekers-face-mob-violence-in-south-africa/2008/05/19/1211182702202.html
